Parliamentary election in Tajikistan 2000

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 2000 parliamentary elections in Tajikistan were held on February 27, 2000 with a runoff on March 12, 2000. The parliamentary elections in 2000 were an important stage in the peacekeeping process in Tajikistan after the Tajik Civil War , which officially ended in 1997.

Electoral system

The electoral system in Tajikistan was a result of peace negotiations between the opposition, which consisted mainly of regional and Islamic groups, and the government under President Emomalij Rahmon . It is based on a combination of majority voting and proportional representation for the allocation of a total of 63 mandates in the Tajik parliament, the Maschlisi Milli . 41 mandates are awarded according to the principle of majority voting in 41 electoral districts , whereby the victorious candidate must have an absolute majority of the votes cast. If none of the candidates succeeds, a run-off election between the two most successful candidates in the first round is planned. Furthermore, a voter turnout of over 50% is necessary for the result to be valid. The remaining 22 mandates are awarded by proportional representation on the electoral lists of the parties. The nationwide voting share of the parties is decisive for the award of the mandate; there is also a blocking clause of 5% of the votes cast.

background

In the course of the Tajik Civil War, Rahmon was able to assert himself as the new President of Tajikistan. In 1997, a peace treaty was signed between the United Tajik Opposition and the Rahmon government, which included the establishment of a National Reconciliation Commission, the release of opposition leaders and the possibility of democratic participation by opposition parties. Understanding between the government and the opposition was confronted with serious difficulties in the course of the presidential election in Tajikistan in 1999 , after the opposition threatened to boycott the election following evidence of irregularities in the election and discrimination against opposition candidates . This was prevented by an agreement between President Rahmon and the party leader of the Islamic Party for the Rebirth of Tajikistan , Said Abdullo Nuri. Both parties agreed to recognize the results of the 1999 presidential election and committed to holding pluralistic and free parliamentary elections in 2000.

Parties and candidates

The party landscape in Tajikistan was subject to significant changes in the run-up to the election. After numerous opposition parties were banned during the civil war, some of them were re-established after 1997 as part of the understanding between the government and the opposition. After a diverse and pluralistic party landscape had emerged in this way, there were increasing restrictions in the months before the election. Six parties were banned or suspended, mostly due to formal errors in registration or violations of electoral regulations during the election campaign . This tightened government policy raised concerns about the fairness of the election on the part of the opposition. In August 1999, two of the main opposition parties, the Islamic Party of the Rebirth of Tajikistan and the Democratic Party of Tajikistan, were allowed to vote. In addition, numerous opposition politicians from suspended parties were on the electoral lists of other parties or stood for election as independent candidates in one of the electoral districts. In this way a political competition arose between the various parties and candidates. After the controversial registration process, six parties were ultimately allowed to vote:

  • People's Democratic Party of Tajikistan , President Rahmon 's party
  • Islamic Party of the Rebirth of Tajikistan , one of the most important opposition parties and the political mouthpiece of the Islamic opposition to Rahmon
  • Communist Party of Tajikistan , the Communist Party of Tajikistan supported President Rahmon during the years of the civil war, but from 1998 tensions arose between the People's Democratic Party and the Communist Party, so that it was part of the opposition camp
  • Democratic Party of Tajikistan, also an opposition party with less strong regional roots, strong electorate in the country's cities
  • Socialist Party of Tajikistan, the Socialist Party supported President Rahmon. Their electorate was mostly concentrated in the Khujand area. After the murder of the party leader in 1998, the party found itself in a leadership crisis
  • New opposition, an amalgamation of smaller parties and unregistered opposition parties that wanted to enter parliament through a majority vote in the electoral districts

The field of candidates was characterized by significant regional, political and ideological differences. The strong regional importance of parties that had already shaped the Tajik civil war was also evident in the parties in the 1999 parliamentary elections. Only the People's Democratic Party and the Communist Party had a nationwide organizational structure; all other parties won their voters to a large extent in individual regions of Tajikistan.

Election campaign

The election campaign was overshadowed by a series of violent clashes in which a total of 11 people died. A candidate for the People's Democratic Party died in a bomb attack and an exchange of fire broke out at an election rally for the Islamic Party for the Rebirth of Tajikistan. These and other events created an uncertain and charged atmosphere in the run-up to the election. Election campaign events generally took place only to a limited extent, which was also due to the very limited possibilities for financing an elaborate election campaign. Election posters were used by all parties in the election campaign, but only to a limited extent and mostly limited to the larger cities of the country. Television played a central role in the election campaign, with state broadcasters in particular reaching a wide audience. All parties were given airtime on state television.

Result

Distribution of seats after the 2000 parliamentary elections

The election resulted in an absolute majority for the People's Democratic Party, which was able to win a total of 36 seats. Furthermore, MPs from the Communist Party and the Islamic Party for the Rebirth of Tajikistan entered the newly elected parliament. In three of the 41 electoral districts, the first ballot was declared invalid due to significant deficiencies in the implementation of the election. There was a new election in one of the three affected districts, the other two mandates remained vacant for the time being. The turnout in the first ballot was officially given as 93.36%.

Political party Votes (absolute) Voting share Mandates (proportional representation) Mandates (majority vote) Mandates (total)
People's Democratic Party of Tajikistan 1,741,540 64.91% 15th 21st 36
Communist Party of Tajikistan 547.076 20.39% 5 8th 13
Islamic Party of the Rebirth of Tajikistan 196.105 7.31% 2 0 2
Democratic Party of Tajikistan 94,963 3.54% 0 0 0
New opposition 35,414 1.32% 0 0 0
Socialist Party of Tajikistan 37,728 1.22% 0 0 0
Independent - - 0 10 10
Vacant - - - 2 2
total 2,683,010 - 22nd 41 63

rating

The implementation of the parliamentary elections and the democratic competition between former opponents of the war received general recognition. The parliamentary election was seen as an important step in the peace process after the bloody civil war in Tajikistan, at the same time the observer mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe made it clear that the election had failed to meet democratic standards in many areas. The lack of transparency in the implementation of the election and the counting of votes was criticized. Numerous irregularities were reported in all parts of the country and even led to the cancellation of the election in three electoral districts. Human Rights Watch criticized in particular the irregularities in the registration of candidates and parties and the advantages of the ruling party in terms of media coverage. The acts of violence in the run-up to the election represented a setback for peace efforts. However, the OSCE observers came to the conclusion that even after the election, the will to continue the peace process was still there on all sides.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ IPU PARLINE database: TAJIKISTAN (Majlisi namoyandogon), Electoral system. Accessed April 26, 2020 .
  2. ^ Tajikistan profile . In: BBC News . July 31, 2018 ( bbc.com [accessed April 26, 2020]).
  3. ↑ OSCE (ed.): THE REPUBLIC OF TAJIKISTAN Elections to the Parliament 27 February 2000 . Warsaw May 17, 2000, p. 4-5 .
  4. ↑ OSCE (ed.): THE REPUBLIC OF TAJIKISTAN Elections to the Parliament 27 February 2000 . Warsaw May 17, 2000, p. 11-15 .
  5. ↑ OSCE (ed.): THE REPUBLIC OF TAJIKISTAN Elections to the Parliament 27 February 2000 . Warsaw May 17, 2000, p. 22-23 .
  6. ↑ TAJIKISTAN: parliamentary elections Majlisi Milliy, 2000. Accessed April 27, 2020 .
  7. ^ Tajikistan's Parliamentary Elections (HRW Backgrounder, February 2000). Retrieved April 27, 2020 .
  8. ↑ OSCE (ed.): THE REPUBLIC OF TAJIKISTAN Elections to the Parliament 27 February 2000 . Warsaw May 17, 2000, p. 2 .